Replacing mechanical/magnetic components with a supercomputer

ABSTRACT

A supercomputer comprising a memory device and a plurality of interconnected hardware processors capable of performing parallel processing is coupled to a mainframe computer comprising one or more hardware processors. The supercomputer functions as a part of the mainframe computer&#39;s memory hierarchy.

FIELD

The present application relates computer architecture, and moreparticularly to interfacing a supercomputer to a mainframe computer.

BACKGROUND

Organizations operating on mainframe computer systems, for example, alegacy computer, may depend on those systems to perform their day-to-dayoperations in providing goods and/or services to their customers. Giventhe amount of massive data that need to be processed and the dynamicnature of response time needed in the current computing environment,however, the mainframe computer systems alone may not have the capacityto meet those demands. Therefore, an improvement to the existingmainframe computers is desirable to be able to handle the modern demandsof computing.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A computer system, in one aspect, may include a supercomputer thatincludes a memory device and a plurality of interconnected hardwareprocessors capable of performing parallel processing. The computersystem may also include a mainframe computer that includes one or morehardware processors coupled to the supercomputer. In one aspect, thesupercomputer has faster processing capability than the mainframecomputer in data processing, and the supercomputer functions as a partof the mainframe computer's memory hierarchy.

A method, in one aspect, may include connecting a supercomputer to amainframe computer, the supercomputer having faster processingcapability than the mainframe computer in data processing. The methodmay also include running a first application on the mainframe computer.The method may further include storing data on the supercomputer, thedata for producing a result for the first application on thesupercomputer. The method may also include invoking from the firstapplication running on the mainframe an interface command to invoke asecond application on the supercomputer.

A computer readable storage medium storing a program of instructionsexecutable by a machine to perform one or more methods described hereinalso may be provided.

Further features as well as the structure and operation of variousembodiments are described in detail below with reference to theaccompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicateidentical or functionally similar elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an architectural diagram illustrating components of a systemin one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method in one embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic of an example computer or processingsystem, for example, a mainframe computer system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A method, system and technique are presented in one embodiment thatdeploys a supercomputer to function as a component in a storagehierarchy, for example, of a mainframe computer. Such architecturalarrangement of the computer components in a computer system provides foran improved way for the computer system to perform critical functions incomputations in many applications, for example, generating price listsfor the goods and services, inventory reorganization functions such aswhen an out-of-plan activity like cancelation of an aircraft flightoccurs, and/or others.

In one embodiment, a supercomputer such as BlueGene® from InternationalBusiness Machines (IBM) Corporation (Armonk, N.Y.), is connectedadjacent to a mainframe-class computer. Examples of a mainframe computermay include, but are not limited to, IBM System/370, IBM System/390, andIBM System z (zSeries). The supercomputer may be installed adjacent to amainframe computer running a transaction processing middleware such asIBM® Customer Information Control System (CICS). Transaction programsmay access the supercomputer using file control interfaces such as EXECCICS READ and EXEC CICS WRITE (Virtual Storage Access Method (VSAM))commands, and using distributed transaction programming interfaces suchas the EXEC CICS LINK command.

With the architectural arrangement in one embodiment of a supercomputerand mainframe computer, science and commercial supercomputing is enabledin existing mainframe class of computers. Computationally intensivecommercial transactions such as the regenerating of a price list anddiscount schedule tend to be an infrequently performed activity (e.g., aquarterly activity) for many enterprises because of the amount ofmodeling and processing effort involved in a “turn of the crank”. Themethodology of the present disclosure in one embodiment allows fordeployment of significantly additional processing power to the taskwithout making obsolete the existing mainframe machines, and reduces theprocessing time, for instance, to less than a second. The methodology ofthe present disclosure in one embodiment consequently allows forcomputationally intensive activities to be performed more frequently,for example, hourly or daily. For example, commercial transactions suchas price lists and discount schedules may be regenerated morefrequently.

The current generation of supercomputers contains 4 terabyte (TB) ofmemory and 4096 processing cores per rack. There is sufficient internalnetworking bandwidth to allow all the data to be exchanged from one halfof the machine to the other half every few milliseconds (ms). In oneembodiment, the memory of a supercomputer is used to store the data(e.g., ‘inventory’) of an entity such as a business organization. Anexample of ‘inventory’ of a business organization is the set of productsit has for sale, and the quantity of each product that is ready to besold. The ‘inventory’ of a business organization may also includeestimates of the inventories of competitive business.

In addition to storing the data for the mainframe computer, thesupercomputer may search the data and create a model based on the data.For example, for the ‘inventory’ data, the supercomputer may model theeffect on profitability of selling an inventory element at any proposedprice. This search/model function on the supercomputer may beautomatically triggered in response to a purchaser or another usernavigating on a computer, for example, a web page or another userinterface, for example, to purchase the inventory element.

For instance, an airline business may have as its ‘inventory’ a bit-mapindicating which seats had not yet been sold. For example, with 1000flights per day, 500 seats per flight, and a seat-selling ‘horizon’ of 1year, ‘inventory’ computes to 183 million bits. While this may be arelatively small amount of information, the airline may want an estimateof the ‘inventory’ of other airlines, may want information to model thelikely demand from potential clients, and may want to model the howlikely potential customers may be able to purchase flight seats. 4 TBamount of inventory-type information may be considered reasonable fordefining and refining models.

The processors in supercomputers may run ‘yield management’ models.Yield management is an established field of optimization. An exampleyield management result may include a ‘price list’ (e.g., an indicationfor each of the currently unsold seats, the ‘list price’ that theairline may offer to sell a seat), and for example, a discount structure(e.g., if a customer requested 10 seats, what offer should be accepted).

Yield management may be performed with only a few processors, and only afew gigabytes (GB) of inventory information. However, simplifyingassumptions may need to be introduced to make the problem tractable.These assumptions may mean that the resulting price list is notcompetitively optimal for the business.

FIG. 1 is an architectural diagram illustrating components of a systemin one embodiment. A supercomputer 102 is connected to a mainframecomputer 104, and functions as part of a memory hierarchy in themainframe computer. A supercomputer 102, for example, is ahigh-performance computer that includes multiple processors orprocessing cores, for instance, capable of performing massively parallelprocessing. A supercomputer 102 may include a shared memory and/or adistributed memory system among its processors. A supercomputer, forinstance, may include processor configurations that connect itsprocessors by torus interconnect, for example, 2-dimensional or3-dimensional torus interconnect configuration.

A mainframe computer 104 may include one or more processors, and includeapplications such as middleware applications running on the mainframecomputer 104.

A connection 106 between the supercomputer 102 and the mainframecomputer 104 may be achieved by a network link such as Ethernet betweenthe supercomputer and the mainframe. Ethernet refers to computernetworking technologies, for instance, used in local area networks(LAN), wide area networks (WAN) and/or others. Ethernet provides anetwork protocol that controls how data is transmitted over a network,for example, the LAN or WAN. Ethernet may use special twisted pair orfiber optic cables, or another type of cables, that physically connectthe machines (e.g., 102 and 104). Data is transmitted over the Ethernetcables or cables using the Ethernet protocol. Ethernet is a non-limitingexample of a connection 106. Other connections are possible.

In one embodiment, the supercomputer is housed in the same machine roomas (or near) the mainframe so as to achieve a low-latency link betweenthe machines (supercomputer 102 and mainframe computer 104). Forinstance, a threshold latency value may be configured, and thesupercomputer may be housed such that the connection distance betweenthe supercomputer and the mainframe computer is such that thecommunication latency in communications between the super computer andthe mainframe computer does not exceed the threshold latency value. Forexample, the supercomputer may be placed within a threshold distancefrom the mainframe computer such that a latency in accessing the data onthe supercomputer from the application running on the mainframe computerdoes not exceed a threshold latency value

An application (e.g., referred to as a first application) running on themainframe computer 104 may access data stored on the supercomputer 102by invoking file control or other interfaces. For instance, the filecontrol (e.g., EXEC CICS READ/WRITE) interface flows over the Ethernetlink (e.g., 106) between the machines 102, 104. The task control (e.g.,EXEC CICS LINK) interface also flows across the Ethernet link (e.g.,106).

In one embodiment, the data may be initially transferred to thesupercomputer 102 by EXEC CICS READ/WRITE operations executed from themainframe computer 104, or may be transferred by an offline applicationwhich uses the Ethernet interface between the machines 102, 104.

The supercomputer 102 may include numerous, e.g., thousands ofprocessors, and has one or more applications running on thesupercomputer 102. The supercomputer may have faster processingcapability than the mainframe computer in data processing. Theconnection 106 may be an Ethernet link (or multiple Ethernet links)between the machines 102, 104.

For instance, a first application may run on the mainframe computer 104and a second application may run on the supercomputer 102. Thesupercomputer 102 stores data for the first application to produce aresult. For example, the first application may invoke the secondapplication to search the data and generate a model based on the data,the result produced based on the model. The second applicationcommunicates the result to the first application. In one embodiment, thesupercomputer 102 is placed within a threshold distance of the mainframecomputer 104 such that a latency in receiving the result by the firstapplication from the supercomputer 102 does not exceed a thresholdlatency value.

A supercomputer's position, placed adjacent to a mainframe, in oneembodiment enables improved resources to be deployed to a task, forexample, such as described above. Interfaces such as those included IBMCICS may be employed to connect the supercomputer to a mainframecomputer. For example, ‘EXEC CICS READ’ and ‘EXEC CICS WRITE’ interfacescan create and update the ‘inventory’ in the supercomputer's randomaccess memory (RAM), ‘EXEC CICS LINK’ interface may initiate the task(historically known as a CPIC back-end) which operates the economicmodel and returns the new result, for example, the new price list to theseat-selling system in the above-described example. For instance,dynamic prices may be computed based on current inventory data (e.g.,changing inventory data) with more efficient speed or faster than themainframe computer alone may be able to.

The computer architecture of the present disclosure may be applicable to‘distribution-channel’ computing systems, for example, those whichperform operations for selling large quantities of broadly similar items(such as plane seats, hotel accommodations/rooms) and for achievingcompetitive success by differentiating factors such as prices for items.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method in one embodiment of thepresent disclosure. At 202, a supercomputer may be connected or coupledto a mainframe computer. At 204, an application is run on the mainframecomputer. At 206, data needed to run the application is stored on thesupercomputer. In one embodiment the data may have been stored offlinepreviously on the supercomputer. At 208, the application running on themainframe computer invokes one or more interface commands to access thesupercomputer, for example, data stored on the supercomputer, for theapplication to perform its functions on the mainframe computer. Forexample, the application (referred to as a first application) running onthe mainframe computer may invoke or call an interface command to invokean application (referred to as a second application) on thesupercomputer. The application on the supercomputer performs datasearches and modeling. The application on the supercomputer searches thedata on the supercomputer, and performs modeling calculations on thisdata. An example result of this modeling may include a price quotationfor which an inventory element should be offered for sale. For example,the first application invokes the second application to search the dataand generate a model based on the data, the result produced based on themodel, and the second application communicates the result to the firstapplication. In one embodiment, the supercomputer is places within athreshold distance of the mainframe computer such that a latency inreceiving the result by the first application from the supercomputerdoes not exceed a threshold latency value.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic of an example computer or processingsystem, for example, a mainframe computer system shown in FIG. 1. Thecomputer system is only one example of a suitable processing system andis not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use orfunctionality of embodiments of the methodology described herein. Theprocessing system shown may be operational with numerous other generalpurpose or special purpose computing system environments orconfigurations.

The computer system may be described in the general context of computersystem executable instructions, such as program modules, being executedby a computer system. Generally, program modules may include routines,programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and so on thatperform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.The computer system may be practiced in distributed cloud computingenvironments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices thatare linked through a communications network. In a distributed cloudcomputing environment, program modules may be located in both local andremote computer system storage media including memory storage devices.

The components of computer system may include, but are not limited to,one or more processors or processing units 12, a system memory 16, and abus 14 that couples various system components including system memory 16to processor 12. The processor 12 may include an application module 30performing a dedicated functionality. The module 30 may be programmedinto the integrated circuits of the processor 12, or loaded from memory16, storage device 18, or network 24 or combinations thereof.

Bus 14 may represent one or more of any of several types of busstructures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and notlimitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture(ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA)bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, andPeripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus.

Computer system may include a variety of computer system readable media.Such media may be any available media that is accessible by computersystem, and it may include both volatile and non-volatile media,removable and non-removable media.

System memory 16 can include computer system readable media in the formof volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) and/or cachememory or others. Computer system may further include otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storagemedia. By way of example only, storage system 18 can be provided forreading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media(e.g., a “hard drive”). Although not shown, a magnetic disk drive forreading from and writing to a removable, non-volatile magnetic disk(e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical disk drive for reading from orwriting to a removable, non-volatile optical disk such as a CD-ROM,DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided. In such instances, eachcan be connected to bus 14 by one or more data media interfaces.

Computer system may also communicate with one or more external devices26 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display 28, etc.; one ormore devices that enable a user to interact with computer system; and/orany devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enable computersystem to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Suchcommunication can occur via Input/Output (I/O) interfaces 20.

Still yet, computer system can communicate with one or more networks 24such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN),and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet) via network adapter 22. Asdepicted, network adapter 22 communicates with the other components ofcomputer system via bus 14. It should be understood that although notshown, other hardware and/or software components could be used inconjunction with computer system. Examples include, but are not limitedto: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external diskdrive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storagesystems, etc.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements, if any, in the claims below areintended to include any structure, material, or act for performing thefunction in combination with other claimed elements as specificallyclaimed. The description of the present invention has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

We claim:
 1. A computer system comprising: a supercomputer comprising amemory device and a plurality of interconnected hardware processorscapable of performing parallel processing; a mainframe computercomprising one or more hardware processors coupled to the supercomputer;and an application running on the mainframe computer and accessing datastored on the supercomputer; the supercomputer having faster processingcapability than the mainframe computer in data processing, thesupercomputer functioning as a part of the mainframe computer's memoryhierarchy wherein the data stored on the supercomputer is accessed byinvoking an interface command from the mainframe computer, wherein thesupercomputer is placed within a threshold distance from the mainframecomputer such that a latency in accessing the data on the supercomputerfrom the application running on the mainframe computer does not exceed athreshold latency value.
 2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein thesupercomputer and the mainframe computer are connected via an Ethernetlink.
 3. A computer system comprising: a supercomputer comprising amemory device and a plurality of interconnected hardware processorscapable of performing parallel processing; a mainframe computercomprising one or more hardware processors coupled to the supercomputer,the supercomputer having faster processing capability than the mainframecomputer in data processing, the supercomputer functioning as a part ofthe mainframe computer's memory hierarchy; a first application runningon the mainframe computer; and a second application running on thesupercomputer, wherein the supercomputer stores data for the firstapplication to produce a result, wherein the first application invokesthe second application to search the data and generate a model based onthe data, the result produced based on the model, the second applicationcommunicating the result to the first application, wherein thesupercomputer is placed within a threshold distance of the mainframecomputer such that a latency in receiving the result by the firstapplication from the supercomputer does not exceed a threshold latencyvalue.
 4. The computer system of claim 3, wherein the data comprisesinventory data of an organization, and the second application computesdynamic price lists.
 5. A computer readable storage medium storing aprogram of instructions executable by a machine to perform a methodcomprising: running a first application on a mainframe computer coupledto a supercomputer, the supercomputer having faster processingcapability than the mainframe computer in data processing, thesupercomputer storing data for producing a result for the firstapplication; and invoking from the first application running on themainframe, an interface command to invoke a second application on thesupercomputer, the supercomputer functioning as a part of the mainframecomputer's memory hierarchy wherein the supercomputer is placed within athreshold distance of the mainframe computer such that a latency inreceiving the result by the first application from the supercomputerdoes not exceed a threshold latency value.
 6. The computer readablestorage medium of claim 5, wherein the interface command comprisesCustomer Information Control System (CICS) commands.
 7. The computerreadable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the supercomputer and themainframe computer are connected via an Ethernet link.
 8. The computerreadable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the first applicationinvokes the second application to search the data and generate a modelbased on the data, the result produced based on the model, the secondapplication communicating the result to the first application.
 9. Thecomputer readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the data comprisesinventory data of an organization, and the second application computesdynamic price lists.